One of the increasingly common functions of modern personal computers is providing access to and presenting Internet content. Internet content is typically provided and presented to users by means of an Internet browser, such as Safari®, made by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; or Firefox®, made by Mozilla Corporation in Mountain View, Calif.; or Internet Explorer®, made by Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash. Internet browsing applications are also referred to herein as Internet browsers or, simply, web browsers (where “web” refers to the world-wide web). Similarly, Internet content is also referred to as web content herein.
The increase in web browser usage has led to a demand for enhanced web browsing speeds, both in the form of network connection speeds and optimizations to Internet browser applications. To aid in the user experience of web browsing (also referred to herein as web browsing), web browser applications frequently include some type of progress indicator that indicates the download progress for a particular web page, or other web content. The progress indicator is intended to give the user some indication as to the progress of the web page download. For example, some web browsers have a progress bar that is intended to grow progressively longer as more of the content of a web page is loaded and rendered to the screen.
However, one of the problems with progress indicators on web browsers is that they fail to accurately reflect the true progress made towards downloading web content. In other words, the progress bar on many traditional web browsers is arbitrary—it is designed to give the user the perception that progress is being made to appease the user's desire for fast downloads. These web browsers are arbitrary inasmuch as the progress bar, for example, grows in length without any direct connection to the actual download progress of the web page content. For example, in some browsers, as soon as a user clicks on a link or enters a new web address, the progress indicator (e.g., a progress bar) will automatically show that 10 percent of the content has been downloaded, even if 5 percent or even zero percent has actually been downloaded.
Additionally, it is common for a progress indicator to show 75 percent of the requested content has been downloaded when, in actuality the content viewing area of the display screen on the web browser shows far less than 75 percent of the content. In fact, in some cases, the progress bar might indicate that the majority of the content has been downloaded when nothing is actually being displayed on the screen. Thus, one of the challenges of providing a good user experience within an web browser is to be able to show the user an accurate representation of the progress being made on a particular download of web content.